Happy Birthday, Litva
by WaterfromSand
Summary: Lithuania finally has a day off from all of his hard work at Russia's home. It is his birthday, after all! He decides to go on a little outing, but not everything goes as according to plan... What will Russia do when he finds out what's happened to Lithuania?


Lithuania turned at the sound of his door slowly creaking open. His heart stopped for a moment, thinking that perhaps he had the date wrong, and it was Russia at his door. Lithuania relaxed when two little blonde heads peeked around the door: Latvia and Estonia.

"Happy birthday, Lithuania!" They cried, stepping into Lithuania's tiny room. The space was uncomfortably cramped with all three Baltics inside, but Lithuania was glad they had come to see him. He missed sharing a room with the other nations, if not only because sharing a bed with two other people was so much warmer than sleeping alone. For reasons unknown, Russia had recently moved Lithuania from the servants' quarters downstairs to this tiny, compartment-like room behind Russia's own living space. Each of the Baltics had been upset and confused by the new arrangement, but none dared to ask Russia why things had been changed.

"We came to give you your present!" Latvia practically squeaked.

Lithuania cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "A present?" he asked, "Where did you find me a-"

"We don't have anything tangible to give you," Estonia interrupted, "It's really just a favor."

Lithuania's shoulders relaxed. The only thing he thought that his fellow Baltics could have provided him with would have been something stolen from Russia. The last thing Lithuania would have wanted would have been to be constantly on guard to keep his gift hidden from Russia.

"Well," he asked quietly, "What is it?"

Latvia looked ready to burst from excitement. "We got you the day off!" He all but shrieked.

Lithuania's jaw dropped. He immediately began to stammer. "W-w-what? I d-don't understand, how c-could you get m-me the day off? We each have t-too many chores, there's no w-way you could c-cover mine and s-still get yours d-done!"

Latvia was clearly too excited to explain, so Estonia stepped up to fill in the blanks. "Well, originally we had only intended to try and cover most of your chores so you could relax a little. But a few days ago, Russia approached us and asked if we had plans for your birthday. Naturally we were terrified and confused, but we decided it was best to tell him the truth. After we told him, he said that since he was going to collect bills from Ukraine on your birthday and wouldn't be home most of the day anyway, there was really no need for us to have as many chores as usual." Estonia took a deep breath before continuing, holding up a hand to keep Lithuania from interrupting like he so clearly wanted to. "So, Russia left to make Latvia and me our own lists, but told us that you wouldn't have to do any chores on your birthday!"

The room fell silent as Estonia and Latvia looked expectantly at Lithuania. Lithuania teetered for a moment, caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry. Finally, he wound up doing both, and threw his arms around his fellow Baltic nations in joy.

"I can't believe you convinced Russia to give me the day off!" Lithuania managed to say between sobs, "I haven't had a day off in years!"

Estonia and Latvia both wore immense grins as they hugged Lithuania back with all of their combined strength.

"We wanted to do something special for you," Latvia explained, "Since you always make our lives easier by doing some of our chores for us every day, and by trying to protect us from Russia when he's angry."

"Yes," Estonia added, "It really was the least we could do. And we mean it when we say we want you to have the day off. No chores! Russia's orders! Go and relax!"

Lithuania smiled and stepped back from the hug, wiping tears from his face. "I really don't know how to thank you," Lithuania said, "This seems like too much."

"No!" Latvia cried, "It's not too much! Honestly, it isn't enough. Estonia and I are going to go start our chores now, and we expect you to go do whatever you want!" Latvia grabbed Estonia's arm and practically dragged him from the room before Lithuania could argue.

 _Well_ , Lithuania thought, _I might as well take advantage of this day off, since it's likely never going to happen again_. He looked up to gaze out his tiny window, seeing that his birthday was shaping out to be a beautiful one. The sun was already on the rise, and the world glistened under a coat of fresh, white powder that had fallen through the night. The sky was clear of any cloud cover, and the branches in the trees all stood stock still, indicating that there was no frosty breeze.

Lithuania sighed happily. _I think I'll go ice skating_ , he thought, _I can't remember the last time I went, and it's one of my favorite things to do._

He stepped over to his "closet," which was really just a few boxes of clothes on a shelf. Lithuania mindlessly pulled on article after article of clothing, sometimes having to double up layers because his clothes were so worn. When he pulled down his box of sweaters, Lithuania was surprised by its weight. He only had five sweaters, and they were all so threadbare they were almost insubstantial. He peered into the box, thinking perhaps he had accidentally put away some of Estonia's clothes one night in an exhausted haze. Lithuania gasped when he saw what was making the box so heavy.

Folded immaculately and placed delicately over his other sweaters was the nicest, highest quality sweater that Lithuania had ever seen. He placed the box on the floor and pulled the rich burgundy sweater out for closer inspection. It was unbelievably soft to the touch, reminding him of the way it felt to stroke a bunny. The material was heavy and tightly knit, and the sweater boasted a cable design and a thick turtleneck. The sweater was incredible, nicer and warmer than some of Russia's own sweaters. Pinned to the front was a small note that simply read, "Happy birthday! Wear me, I'm yours."

Lithuania shrugged, and set the sweater aside momentarily. He had just learned that today he was to take what was given to him without asking questions, so that was what he was going to do. Though he was certain that the sweater would be plenty warm on its own, Lithuania was taking no chances. It might be sunny outside, but it was still deathly cold, and he wanted all the protection he could get. He pulled his two most intact sweaters from their box and pulled them on, layering one over the other. Lithuania's new birthday sweater was a little large, and so fit comfortably over his other sweaters when he pulled it on.

Any chill from his bedroom was immediately cut out once he pulled on the new sweater. He could feel a growing warmth as the turtleneck trapped his body heat, creating his own personal bubble of warmth. Lithuania allowed himself several moments to luxuriate in the comfort, unable to remember the last time that his clothes had made him feel so cared for. He had no idea who could have left the sweater there for him to find, but whoever it was, he was more grateful to them than he had ever been to anyone in his life.

The new sweater put Lithuania in such a wonderful mood that he found himself humming as he finished dressing, pulling on his gloves, hat, and coat. He grabbed his ice skates, then bounced down the stairs to the kitchen. Lithuania called out to Estonia and Latvia, telling them he was going out to skate and would be home later. Snatching a roll from the pantry, he set out down the road toward the huge pond that sat on one of the far corners of Russia's estate.

As he walked, Lithuania nibbled delicately at his breakfast, and wondered who could possibly have given him such a wonderful, and no doubt expensive, gift. Even though the temperature outside was well below zero, Lithuania found that he was still warm and comfortable. He racked his brain for ideas, but came up with no one. Lithuania wasn't close with any other nation, as the only time he was allowed to leave Russia's mansion was when Russia went to world meetings. Even then, Lithuania wasn't allowed to speak with other nations, but was expected to sit quietly and take notes for Russia. The only logical explanation that Lithuania could come up with was that the sweater had appeared through magic.

Though he was still thoroughly bothered by not knowing where his remarkable sweater had come from, Lithuania shoved all speculation aside when he reached the banks of the pond. It was a beautiful sight to behold. All the greenery around the pond, the rushes, shrubs, and trees, was encased in ice and dusted with snow. There were deep embankments of snow all around the pond's edge, piled up by the wind. The ice covering the surface of the pond was thick and immaculate, untouched by paw, hoof, or skate. There is a fallen tree near the pond's edge, and Lithuania makes his way to it to swap his boots for skates.

Despite it having been ages since Lithuania skated last, the moment his blades touched the ice he was back in his element. Lithuania had always loved ice skating, and as he glided across the ice he thought back to his childhood, when he would spend hours skating with Poland. His heart ached at the memory of his old friend. Though he was able to see him every now and then at world meetings, they were never allowed to exchange more than a few pleasantries before Russia came along and hurried Lithuania off to another part of the summit.

Lithuania was so lost in his reminiscing that he failed to notice the low arch of a tree branch jutting out from the ice. With no warning, Lithuania's left foot was tangled underneath the branch. The fact that one part of his body was trapped didn't stop the rest of Lithuania's body from continuing to slide along the ice. Lithuania cried out in pain as his trapped ankle twisted hard and fast, and threw out his arms to catch himself as he fell toward the ice. His right arm took the brunt of the fall, the bone audibly splitting in two from the force of the impact. Lithuania didn't even have time to scream out in anguish, because instants later his head smashed into the ice, dazing him.

Lithuania remained conscious, but he might as well not have been for all he was able to move. He laid in stunned silence for several minutes, unable to gather any coherent thought to get off the ice.

Finally, after ages of shallow panting and listening to his heart race, Lithuania was able to begin assessing his situation. His right wrist was definitely broken, and his left ankle severely sprained. There was no way he was going to be able to walk home, but he knew he had to at least get off the ice. Holding his broken arm close to his chest to avoid further injury, Lithuania folded himself almost in half so he could reach where his foot was still trapped in the tree branch jutting out from the ice. He held onto the branch for leverage and tried to slide his leg out, but his sprain caused him so much agony he found himself on the brink of actually passing out. Instead of pulling his foot free, he was going to have to break the branch. Unfortunately, now that he was no longer moving, Lithuania's extremities were beginning to go numb in the extreme cold. His gloved hand fumbled with the branch, clumsily snapping off twigs and bits of bark. Lithuania's entire face was numb by the time he finally manged to snap free of the branch.

The task of freeing himself had been so arduous and painful that Lithuania found himself lying on his back, staring up at the sky, and panting. He watched, enthralled, as puffs of his breath formed small clouds and rose up toward the sky, slowly dissipating as they made it farther and farther from where he lay. The blow to his head had put him in a bit of a daze, but he knew if he was going to avoid freezing to death he had to shake himself out of it.

Now that he was loose from the branch, Lithuania could work on getting off the ice. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to stand and skate to the edge, so he carefully rolled onto his stomach. With his broken wrist still held up to his chest and his sprained ankle lifted from the ice, Lithuania gritted his teeth against the intense pain and began to scrabble and push his way to the edge.

He was only fifteen feet from the bank when he fell, but it took him ages to travel that far. By the time he was off the ice, he was exhausted from the effort.

Though alarms were ringing and red flags flying somewhere in the back of his head as he thought it, Lithuania decided to take a short nap before figuring out how to get back home.

 _Maybe after my nap my leg will be numb enough to walk on it,_ Lithuania thought, _I'm not that far from home after all. I should be okay_.

With that thought, Lithuania fell unconscious sprawled out in the snow.

.*-*.

"Lithuania! Lithuania!" Deep shouts filled the air, but Lithuania was unable to open his eyes or cry out. He was so warm, at last. Whoever was shouting could at least keep it down.

Lithuania was suddenly aware of a pressure around his waist, and a dull ache in his arm and leg. He groaned, and knew that the voice was talking to him, but he couldn't make out what.

He was jostled and shaken so much that he was finally able to peel his eyes open. All he saw was a blinding, brilliant white. Then he was jolted too hard, and a sharp, breathtaking pain knocked him unconscious once more.

.*-*.

Lithuania was conscious and aware before he opened his eyes. He could feel a dull, painful throbbing in his left ankle and right wrist, but he could feel also that both were tightly bandaged. Lithuania groaned and shifted, his head pounding. He froze, however, instantly becoming aware of several things at once. His eyes shot open. One - He was lying in Russia's huge, soft bed. Two - he was wearing only his underwear. Three - Russia was lying beside him, also wearing only underwear.

"Ah, we are awake at last, are we?" Russia's deep yet childlike voice filled the air behind Lithuania, raising goosebumps over his entire body. He immediately moved to leave the bed, knowing that he was not supposed to be there. What had Estonia and Latvia been thinking? They could just as easily have put Lithuania in his own bed! Oh, Russia was going to kill him! Lithuania hissed in pain, however, when he tried to get up, only barely holding back a cry as he fell back onto the downy pillows.

Russia placed a large hand over Lithuania's chest, weighting him down so he couldn't try moving again. "Oh no, Lithuania. It is best that you remain still for now. You are broken and still cold to the touch, you see. Look, you are covered in the goosebumps."

Lithuania did not need to look to know the condition of his skin, but at the mention of his flesh still being cold, he began to shake. The room around him was warm, but he felt frozen to his bones. Most of the chill came from actually having almost frozen to death, but a good part of it also came from such close proximity to Russia. Lithuania was terrified that he was going to be punished for being in Russia's room without permission.

"I am so sorry, Sir! I don't know how I got in here, forgive me, please. I only need a little help from Latvia and Estonia to go back to my own room, I don't know why they put me here in the first place. I am so sorry to intrude!"

Russia clucked his tongue and shushed the trembling Baltic. "No, Lithuania, it was I who put you here, not Latvia and Estonia." A fine lacing of rage began to creep into Russia's voice as he continued, "No, Latvia and Estonia were not even aware that you were in danger. If it had not been for me, you would have died, little Litva."

Lithuania froze, unsure of how to properly respond. Russia had been the one to save him? Russia had brought him into his own room?

"Oh… Well… Ah, thank you, Sir, for bringing me home. I realize now my mistake in having left." Lithuania scrambled for words he knew would appease Russia's fury at the other Baltics and redirect it at him. "I should have known better than to leave the, ah, protection of your home. I shouldn't have gone out alone. I am so sorry, Sir, and I am ready for whatever my punishment may be." Lithuania was proud that he had managed to choke all of that out without a single stutter.

"Da, Litva, it would seem as though you have learned your lesson, no? For now I am thinking you have had punishment enough. The only reason you are not dead is the sweater I gave you for protection, da? But now I am going to having work extra hard to protect you while you heal. You must be living in this room until you can work again, Litva."

Lithuania was shocked into silence, utterly incapable of response. Russia was the one who had given him the sweater. The sweater had wound up keeping him alive. Russia had saved him, twice. And, Lithuania was being allowed to rest in Russia's room until he was strong enough to go back to his chores. Lithuania decided then and there that he actually had died, and was now living in some kind of heaven. He decided that if that was the case, he really couldn't go wrong in saying anything to Russia, so he went along with it.

"Yes, Sir," he said quietly. He paused, then, "Does this mean, Sir, that I won't be able to go ice skating anymore?"

Russia hummed deep in his chest, and inhaled slowly. He slowly propped himself up on one arm, and, careful to avoid harming Lithuania, moved to press a warm kiss to Lithuania's forehead.

"Da, Litva, no more skating alone. Now if you want to leave, you must take me with you."

Lithuania, finally relaxing as his exhaustion caught up with him once more, sighed contentedly. For some reason, his tired brain thought skating with Russia was a wonderful idea, rather than a terrifying prospect. He imagined twirling gracefully around Russia, who was probably a slow and clumsy skater, and smiled.

Russia, seeing that Lithuania was now mostly asleep, gently pulled the smaller man closer, so he was resting his head on Russia's chest. Russia then wrapped a large arm around Lithuania and pulled the heavy blankets closer, doing his best to keep his Litva warm. Soon after Lithuania drifted off into a healing sleep, Russia followed suit, his heart buzzing with happiness.

"Happy birthday, Litva," he whispered, just before falling asleep.

...

Just another transfer from my tumblr account! If you want to like/reblog this story there, you can find it here: post/107711016398/happy-birthday-litva

As always, let me know if there is any other kind of story you would like me to publish here or post on tumblr. Thanks!


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